'Now I know who my real friends are'

[Temperament]

then you not only lose your 'friends', you lose also your wife and your family will 'spit' at you ^^

Maybe I should play a trick and fake hit S$1M prize and use it to weed out "friends".

Why not do the reverse and pretend to declare bankrupt instead? That is a much more effective way in weeding out the fake friends.

See who is willing to leng you money and provide shelter for you if you are penniless and have no assets.

that is the ULTIMATE TEST. And those who stick by you will be your friends and kin FOR LIFE.

Losing my job during the recession triggered by AFC, 911, SARS,... was a very life enriching experience...

There was the initial flurry of contacts by friends and families to meet up as they showed what I thought was concern but many were in fact mostly keen to know whether I have some lobangs to greater wealth (they see me very up). As I remained jobless and the days stretch to weeks, to months and to years, and I have still not embarked on any great opportunity for them to partake in, the contacts dropped quickly to almost zero. In gatherings such as CNY get-togethers, many were afraid to talk to me and the real reason (I guess) was they're afraid I'm going to borrow money from them!

Yes, it was a very great life experience as I got to know who are my real friends (sadly, only a handful) and even on which blood is really thicker than water (family).

One observation I had was that those from lower income / humbler background are more likely to show genuine care and concern. I had many such personal experience from total strangers (hawkers, cleaners,...) who'd noticed me being jobless and being rather nice to me (some gave me more generous portion of food!). It'd seem that many who are richer are less forgiving of 'society failures' like me. Some of my kids' classmates' parents even put in a lot of effort to deter me from initiating any conversation with them!

I'm really glad to have gone through this life enriching experience even though it was initially very hard for me to accept that I don't really have a lot of real friends plus family members. Now, I try my best to take good care of this small handful of people and share whatever stocks related homework I have with them (they still have to make their own buy/sell decision and take own responsibility) and treat them to sumptious meals whenever I could find the time and money (from G.O.)

Yes in reality, if you find one friend or relative or someone (besides your soul partner) who is willing to stick to you through thick and thin in life (as the clique goes), you are very blessed already. Don't expect to have many.
Cheers!